Tag Archives: crime fiction

#BookReview ‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve #crime

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I love finding a new series to explore. Fortune Favours the Dead by Stephen Spotswood is first in the late 1940s New York-set Pentecost & Parker detective series. Certainly different from anything else I’ve read in this genre. The post-war city setting is dynamic and refreshing. Stephen SpotswoodWhen circus runaway Willowjean Parker meets her new boss, private detective Lillian Pentecost, it is so nearly their last meeting. Ms Pentecost, whose advice has been sought in the past by Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of the wartime president, recognises Will’s unusual talents – knife-throwing, sharpshooting, bareback horse riding, fire-eating and how to get out of a straitjacket – and recruits her as her private assistant. New York is a swirling mixture of poverty, opportunity, change and excess. The war has ended and everyone is adjusting to the new rules of life. When wealthy widow Abigail Collins is murdered not long after her husband committed suicide, and in the same room of their mansion, the police investigation stalls. So the family calls in Lillian Pentecost to investigate. The Collins family steelworks faces financial trouble as wartime contracts are up for renewal, soldiers are returning from war to the jobs done in their absence by women, and rumours are circulating that Abigail was killed by her dead husband Al.
The Abigail Collins case is told from Will’s viewpoint, a nice mixture of detecting, caring for her fragile boss, and going off track pursuing her own suspicions. Will – newly trained in law, shorthand, car mechanics, bookkeeping and driving – is brave, strong and well-meaning. Sometimes she gets into trouble but she often digs up new evidence. Something that MS-sufferer Ms Pentecost, Ms. P, is less able to do. In a future book I’d like to hear more from Ms. P.
The death of Abigail in a locked room seems impossible to solve but the combination of Ms. P’s razor-sharp mind, memory of past crimes and vast cuttings archive, with Will’s derring-do, leads them to clues the police have failed to spot. There are plenty of suspects and witnesses; a theatrical fortune teller and her slimy assistant, a brawny factory manager, Abigail and Al’s fragile son and daughter, Al’s business partner, a failed journalist turned archivist and an academic sceptical about clairvoyancy.
The setting is special, the relationship between the two lead female characters is special. I’ve read a lot of crime novels of different sub-genres and have an eye for spotting the guilty party, Fortune Favours the Dead kept me guessing until the last pages. And it’s fun.

If you’re curious, try the #FirstPara of FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DEATHINPARADISE
‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson #5JACKSONBRODIE
‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6VM via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Ken Follett

#BookReview ‘A Gift of Poison’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

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A Gift of Poison, fourth in the Brönte Mysteries series by Bella Ellis, does not disappoint. It is a fast-moving, threatening and spooky tale of a murderer who may be innocent. Or not. Charlotte, Emily and Anne must investigate. Bella EllisBased on a real poisoning case, The Haworth Poisoner, is a tale of innocent until proven guilty, of poison, of ghosts, of revenants returning from the grave to demand retribution. Abner Lowood – the choice of surname, echoing Lowood School, is pertinent as Charlotte is writing Jane Eyre throughout A Gift of Poison – appears at the parsonage in Haworth. He has heard that the sisters are detectors and he demands they clear his name. If they refuse to help him he will disclose their secret detecting to their father. Disgusted by Lowood but desperate to protect their father from more anguish given the rapid deterioration of Branwell’s health, they agree.
Proven innocent in court of murdering his wife, Lowood claims the continued gossip and rumour that he is guilty is ruining his life. The sisters, Branwell is now so lost and ill that he plays no role in detecting, detest and distrust Lowood. But, following the example set throughout their lives by their father, they give him the benefit of the doubt. If he has been wronged, they will prove it. But, they warn him, if they find proof that he is a murderer they will not hesitate to report their evidence to the police.
The sisters are ably assisted by Charlotte’s friend Ellen Nussey, who is staying at the parsonage when the action takes place, and by author Mrs Catherine Crowe. The latter arrives with her scientific equipment to prove that the revenant – Lowood’s wife Barbara, said to have risen from her grave to identify her murderer – is in fact a hallucination. The balance of science versus emotion, logic rather than emotion, is the first instinct of the ladies. Their search for the truth leads them to Scarborough – where a year later the real Anne Brönte was to die, and is buried – where the decision of one man holds the key.
This is a case of double bluff and triple bluff with added cruelty, deprivation and gothic hauntings. The story is set in 1847, a time when superstition was widespread. Woven into the fictional crime case are glimpses of real life. Bramwell really did set his bed on fire, while Charlotte watched Emily and Anne correct the proofs of their first novels – Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey – soon to be published though her own The Professor was rejected.
This is the last book in the series. In an Author’s Note, Rowan Coleman, aka Bella Ellis, says farewell to her detectors. “I chose to leave them here, for now, at the moment Charlotte is sending off the manuscript for Jane Eyre and before the great waves of tragedy that were to follow all too soon, because although their lives have often been defined by sorrow, I want to celebrate the amazing victories and achievements they carved out for themselves.”
Quickly read and hugely enjoyed.

Click the title below to read my reviews of these other Bella Ellis novels:-
THE VANISHED BRIDE #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE DIABOLICAL BONES #2BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE RED MONARCH #3BRONTEMYSTERIES

And one by Rowan Coleman:-
THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW 

If you like this, try:-
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4THEGOWERDETECTIVE
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SIMONSERRAILLER
‘The Lost Ancestor’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #2MORTONFARRIER

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A GIFT OF POISON by Bella Ellis https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6J0 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Sebastian Barry

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker, former Metropolitan Police officer, has moved home to Cornwall with daughter Daisy. When she agrees to do the catering for an ex-boyfriend’s wedding, she doesn’t expect to find herself involved a murder investigation. The Cornish Wedding Murder is first in the Nosey Parker cosy crime series by Fiona Leitch. A while ago I stumbled on the second book in this series and enjoyed it so much I decided to start at the beginning. Fiona LeitchDoes Jodie find murder and mayhem, or does trouble find her? When Tony Penhaligon’s fiancé disappears on the eve of their wedding, and his ex-wife is found dead in the grounds, he is arrested. Jodie, who has taken an instant dislike to the flashy bride-to-be Cheryl, becomes peacemaker as Mel, Tony’s ex, publicly accuses her successor of marrying him for his money. Never one to stand on the sidelines, Jodie steps in to calm the situation.
This is an enjoyable, easy read. Perfect for when you want something to sink into and forget the world outside. Yes, it’s a murder story. But it’s also funny, full of twists, turns and a main character who is impossible not to like. Jodie is the sort of friend everyone wants. Meddling, well-meaning, gung-ho and giggly, she has a sensitive nose for wrongdoing and a clear idea of what’s right and wrong. Aided by an adopted fluffy white dog and loaded down with leftover wedding food that must be eaten, Jodie is determined to uphold the concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’
A well-written mystery that introduces the setting and characters of the future books. Jodie is likeable. Flawed, but in a nice way that makes her seem a real person. Ably supported by her Mum and daughter Daisy, everywhere Jodie turns in the village someone remembers her as the daughter of respected and much-missed Chief Inspector Eddie Parker. That’s quite a reputation to live up to. Looking for a peaceful life, a new start with her daughter away from London, she manages to find trouble around every corner. She pursues every clue she finds, instead of telling local detective DCI Withers who despairs [or pretends to] at her interference.
Close to the end, I was still guessing the identity of the murderer. The conclusion of the romantic sub-plot is also unsure. A nice mixture of amateur sleuthing and romance. You’ll finish it wanting to read more.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Murder at Catmmando Mountain’ by Anna Celeste Burke
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1SCARBOROUGHMYSTERIES
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-64h via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-
Natalie Haynes

#BookReview ‘City of Masks’ by @SD_Sykes #historical

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It is 1358 and Lord Somershill, Oswald de Lacy, is in Venice with his mother on route to the Holy Land. But Venice is at war with Hungary and the pair are stranded in this city of secrets. City of Masks, third in the Oswald de Lacy medieval mystery series by SD Sykes, sees the young lord investigating the death of a friend. SD SykesVenice is a wonderful setting for Oswald’s detecting. A closed city with its own rules, customs, prejudices and culture, it is a minefield for a stranger seeking information. Oswald relies on acquaintances and new friends for help. But all is not as it seems. Not all deceivers wear a traditional grotesque Venetian mask, some are in full sight. Oswald’s mother continues to be an irritant to him but is full of surprises and there is tension in the house of their hosts, John Bearpark and his young wife, who is due to give birth. As Oswald’s investigations progress, so do strange happenings at the Bearpark house. Plus, Oswald has the feeling he is being followed everywhere he goes. Even to the dangerous military complex, the Arsenale, to the island of lepers and to the gambling dens where he wins, and loses, money.
In this instalment we learn more of Oswald’s inner devils. He is accompanying his mother on this pilgrimage not because he shares her beliefs but because he is running from a bad memory at home. This dark shame within him will not be repressed and as he closes in on the murderer, his thought processes become fickle and his decision-making unreliable. As the days pass, Oswald must solve the murder or an innocent woman will be executed. And Oswald owes money he doesn’t have, money lost at cards, to a thug named Vittore. Venice is portrayed as a repressive, autocratic society with abuse of the poor and infirm. The surface glitters with beautiful houses but beneath, the foundations are rotting. Each island in the lagoon is a separate territory, outsiders are watched, exploited, killed.
Oswald is an impetuous investigator. He assumes possibilities are fact and pursues numerous wild goose chases. He is not an ideal detective. He stumbles on truths and walks straight into danger. He is emotional and naïve. But hidden in his to-ing and fro-ing around Venice and other islands in the Venetian Lagoon, are hints of the real crime, the real culprits. Venice is riddled with deception and Oswald must learn to see beyond the disguises and dissembling, to apply scepticism to everyone and everything around him.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Click the title to read my reviews of the first two books in this series:-
PLAGUE LAND
THE BUTCHER BIRD

If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey
‘The Leviathan’ by Rosie Andrews
‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
CITY OF MASKS by @SD_Sykes #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5RO via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Fatal Crossing’ by @TomHindle3 #crime

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‘When amateurs are involved… mistakes are made,’ says the detective. It is 1924 when a suspicious death occurs on board a transatlantic liner bound for New York with 2000 passengers.  A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle is set up as a classic closed room murder mystery. The detective has four days to find the murderer before the ship docks in New York. Tom HindleKey elements are mixed together. An elderly gentleman travelling under a false name is found dead, a key witness disappears, a painting is stolen, the captain wants an easy final voyage before retirement, while a Scotland Yard detective James Temple won’t say why he’s travelling to America. The captain, who is desperate to believe the death was accidental, permits Temple to investigate the crime only if accompanied by ship’s officer Timothy Birch. They are a mis-matched pair. Grumpy Temple is irritated by Birch’s interference. Birch, whose unspecified grief makes him an outsider amongst the crew, is intimidated by Temple. They begin to interview witnesses. Soon, Birch receives a death threat.
The story is told through the first-person narrative of Birch which is limiting and repetitive. It is a feature of crime novels to use more telling – not showing – than other genres, but here the options were reviewed again and again. I struggled to trust either Birch or Temple, but trust is a major theme of the book… trust tested under duress and grief, loyalty to someone hardly known, debts owed, and the sifting of truth from lies. The classic closed room setting of a ship should add to the tension but the nautical setting was under-used in terms of adding atmosphere, claustrophobia and the countdown of days as time runs out. As the story unfolds, we realise that information is being hidden by everyone and there are two mysteries to be solved. I started to long for a second voice as an alternative to Birch, to add perspective on the mysteries and bring a change of tone.
This is a novel featuring a soul-searching protagonist that also involves a crime, rather than a fast-paced crime novel with a single focus. Neither Birch nor Temple seems to be telling the truth. When a huge twist is revealed at the end, I was left not knowing what to believe.

If you like this, try:-
‘Death and the Brewery Queen’ by Frances Brody #12KATESHACKLETON
‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ by Sophie Hannah #3POIROT
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GOWERDETECTIVE

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A FATAL CROSSING by @TomHindle3 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5xi via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Red Monarch’ by Bella Ellis #historical #crime

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I’ve loved both of the Bella Ellis’s Brönte Mysteries series to date and the latest, The Red Monarch, is my favourite so far. If I could give it 6*, I would. It ticks so many boxes. Fast action, thoughtful detecting, literary and Brönte references, romance, the dirty violent underworld of London, dastardly baddies to defeat and wrongs to be righted. Bella EllisWhen Lydia Roxby runs into trouble in London, she writes to her former governess Anne Brönte appealing for help. Lydia’s actor husband Harry has been imprisoned by a violent gang, accused of stealing a jewel. Heavily pregnant Lydia is given seven days to return the jewel or Harry will be killed. The four Brönte siblings rush to London and find Lydia living in an attic room at the Covent Garden Theatre, run by Harry’s father.
The first problem for the Bröntes is how to find a jewel when no information is available. Lydia knows nothing and either people are ignorant or frightened to speak. The streets around Covent Garden are run by a gangster, Noose, and his network of thugs and spies. So, naturally, the first thing the Bröntes do is seek a face-to-face meeting with Noose.
Operating out of their comfort zone but driven by a clear determination of what is right, backed up by their love for each other, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell must negotiate the dangerous streets of the slums, adopting disguises, refusing to be cowed by threats and bluster, taking risks on who to trust. The more they find out, the clearer it is that they must confront the crime boss who terrifies everyone. But the so-called Red Monarch is so feared that no one dare say his name for fear of being overheard by one of his spies and subsequently killed as a traitor. The whole area exists in an atmosphere of fear and exploitation.
This is an original concept and a plot that, like its two predecessors, combines genres effortlessly. With witty asides and foreshadowing of the Bröntes’ writings – as this novel starts, the sisters’ first edition of poetry is published – this is both familiar and unfamiliar territory. Like comfort food, but surprisingly different. As the thoughtful, literary siblings pursue criminals, we see the strengths and weaknesses of each. Who would have imagined Emily carrying a sword?
Loved it. Oh, and another beautiful cover.

Click the title below to read my reviews of these other Bella Ellis novels:-
THE VANISHED BRIDE #1BRONTEMYSTERIES
THE DIABOLICAL BONES #2BRONTEMYSTERIES
A GIFT OF POISON #4BRONTEMYSTERIES

And one by Rowan Coleman [aka Bella Ellis]:-
THE GIRL AT THE WINDOW 

If you like this, try:-
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody #7KATESHACKLETON
‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #1MORTONFARRIER
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James #1ADAMDALGLIESH

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE RED MONARCH by Bella Ellis https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5wo via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Change of Circumstance’ by @susanhillwriter #crime

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Lafferton, the small town at the heart of the Simon Serrailler crime novels by Susan Hill, has until now only known small-scale drugs crime. In A Change of Circumstance, a young local man is found dead of a presumed overdose in a flat above the Chinese pharmacy in neighbouring hippy village Starley. County lines drug gangs are using local Lafferton children and people are beginning to die. This is the eleventh instalment of this excellent series. Susan HillHill’s Serrailler novels are always a delight to read, thoroughly grounded in the town of Lafferton with familiar characters and landmarks set against beautiful countryside. A reminder that crime happens in pretty places too. I wasn’t so sure about the veracity of some of the police procedure but the stories of Brookie and Olivia feel real enough, both children from fractured families pulled into crime by lies and bribes. A Change of Circumstance is a horrible portrayal of the manipulation and abuse of children but lacking in the narrative drive of earlier books. I finished it quickly but it is short – 315 pages compared with first in the series The Various Haunts of Men which is 448 pages long.
As always, a network of minor storylines add depth and colour to the main themes and Simon’s sister Cat is the beating heart of the drama. Now a GP for a private doctors’ service, she is called out to an elderly man who refuses to go into hospital. Her Yorkie terrier Wookie goes missing while son Sam is home from medical school and being secretive about his study plans. Small details that add to the real life feeling of the series, typical family life.
It’s an odd ending to the drugs case, almost as if a television drama stopped five minutes before the end. I felt slightly let down in not seeing the arrest of the guilty party, instead it is more a hint than an action scene and I missed that final feeling of justice done. The ending to Simon’s story is the change of circumstance of the title. I’m still not quite convinced but it will add a new angle to the next Serrailler story.

Read my reviews of the previous ten novels in this series:-
THE VARIOUS HAUNTS OF MEN #1SIMONSERRAILLER
THE PURE IN HEART #2SIMONSERRAILLER
THE RISK OF DARKNESS #3SIMONSERRAILLER
THE VOWS OF SILENCE #4SIMONSERRAILLER
THE SHADOWS IN THE STREET #5SIMONSERRAILLER
THE BETRAYAL OF TRUST #6SIMONSERRAILLER
A QUESTION OF IDENTITY #7SIMONSERRAILLER
THE SOUL OF DISCRETION #8SIMONSERRAILLER
THE COMFORTS OF HOME #9SIMONSERRAILLER
THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT #10SIMONSERRAILLER

And also by Susan Hill, HOWARD’S END IS ON THE LANDING

If you like this, try:-
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND
‘The Killings at Kingfisher Hill’ by Sophie Hannah #4POIROT
‘The Killing Lessons’ by Saul Black

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE @susanhillwriter https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5vO via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Big Sky’ by Kate Atkinson #crime #Yorkshire

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I hesitate to express some disappointment with Big Sky, the fifth Jackson Brodie instalment by Kate Atkinson, but the feeling grew as I read deeper into the book. I realize this disappointment is based on my incredibly, probably infeasibly high expectations of this author. Kate AtkinsonI have loved Jackson since his first outing in Case Histories. The darkly comic tone is the same in Big Sky but I struggle to pin down what is different this time. The crime is sex trafficking. The action is told through a wide variety of viewpoints. The cast list is very long and the tying up of ends involves characters I had long ceased to remember. Some of the ends were tied up quickly in the last thirty or so pages.
There are still many things to love. The Yorkshire Coast setting – Atkinson was born in York and clearly knows the area well – is at times both realistically beautiful and sordid. And there are so many rough diamond characters to spend time with: Crystal Holroyd; her stepson Harry; the wonderfully named drag queen Bunny Hops, Harry’s co-worker at the Palace Theatre; and the inept Vince Ives. Jackson has moved to the coast and is working as a private detective on a number of small seemingly irrelevant cases; staying with him are his ex-partner’s dog Dido, and their teenage son Nathan. The story is anchored in the historic sex crimes case of Bassani and Carmody. Bassani is dead but Carmody is rumoured to be about to spill some names. Various people are being threatened. Two police detectives are investigating the cold case and how it links to the ‘magic circle’ but they have little luck in finding answers. Two Polish girls arrive in England. Four friends play golf, and one of them feels like an outsider.
Halfway through, the two sides of the story come together as Brodie is employed by Crystal Holroyd to find out who is following her in a silver BMW. After their first meeting, a warning is left for Crystal: a photo of her young daughter. ‘Keep your mouth shut, Christina’. The first hint of a former life for the expensively polished wife of Tommy Holroyd. This is a book in which the present catches up with the past, where past horrors are finally acknowledged.
I finished this book with mixed feelings. Jackson is still a character I want to spend time with, but the plot this time didn’t work for me. Also I put my hand up to say that, as an East Yorkshire girl, I was bamboozled by Atkinson’s mangling of East Coast geography [which she admits in ‘Acknowledgements’ at the end] which took me away from the page but won’t matter a jot if you’ve never been to Brid. That said, Atkinson is one of our best living writers and Jackson Brodie is not a typical fictional detective.

Read my review of another Jackson Brodie book:-
DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK #6JACKSONBRODIE

And here are my reviews of other novels by Kate Atkinson:-
A GOD IN RUINS
LIFE AFTER LIFE
NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY
SHRINES OF GAIETY
TRANSCRIPTION
… and try the #FirstPara of EMOTIONALLY WEIRD

If you like this, try:-
‘Eeny Meeny’ by MJ Arlidge #1HELENGRACE
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1SCARBOROUGHMYSTERIES
‘The Vanished Bride’ by Bella Ellis #1BRONTEMYSTERIES

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BIG SKY by Kate Atkinson https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4Hq via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Village Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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The Cornish Village Murder by Fiona Leitch is the second Nosey Parker cosy mystery and the first I’ve read, in fact I read it when it was originally called A Brush with Death. Jodie Parker, ex-Metropolitan police officer, and newly single mum has returned home to Cornwall. It’s the week of Penstowan’s inaugural arts festival and Jodie, no longer working for the police, is doing the catering. The festival’s main attraction is painter Duncan Stovall, famous for his Penstowan series of sea paintings. Fiona Leitch This is a story with instant fizz. Written in the first person, Jodie’s, I loved the sly sometimes saucy asides that pull you straight into the jokes, the personalities and the action. If it were an item of food on a menu catered by Jodie, this book would be a mash-up of a Cornish saffron bun slathered with butter and clotted cream, a mug of steaming tea and a glass of scrumpy. Cornwall is a part of the book’s DNA, not just the dialect of the Penstowan residents or the food but the wonderful descriptions of coastal scenery that make you want to get into the car and head south on the M5.
When a visiting author is found dead at the bottom of the cliffs Jodie can’t resist sticking her nose in and asking questions, much to the annoyance of DCI Nathan Withers and the irritation of Jodie’s daughter Daisy and mum Shirley.
This is a silky read, one of the best of its genre I’ve read. A brilliant community of family, friends and townspeople, a beautiful seaside setting, with a witty detective, plotted on two levels. The foundation is Jodie’s life settling into the town of her childhood, a triangular-shaped romantic entanglement, and her burgeoning new catering business. Overlaying this is the case in which she becomes entangled; the art world, not just the creation of art but the finance, promotion, sales and investment.
I particularly enjoyed the joshing with childhood friends Debbie and Tony, including lots of cultural references from the Eighties that are lightly handled without huge signposts saying ‘laugh here’.
Read it and chuckle.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND
‘A Deadly Discovery’ by JC Kenney #4ALLIE COBB
‘Tea for Two at the Little Cornish Kitchen’ by Jane Linfoot #2LITTLECORNISHKITCHEN

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5lq via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘A Deadly Discovery’ by @JCKenney1 #cosycrime #crime

1 Reply

Needing a change one day, as I sometimes crave a calming walk in the green countryside, I picked up cosy mystery A Deadly Discovery by JC Kenney. Knowing the book was fourth in a series, I didn’t know what to expect. JC KenneyLiterary agent Allie Cobb lives in Rushing Creek, Indiana where her life revolves around her clients, their manuscripts, taking her cat Ursi for a walk, family and friends. Having previously investigated local murders, and being injured in the process, before this book starts Allie had promised her nearest and dearest that she would drop her private investigating. But when a body turns up in the local woods, everyone wonders if it could be a girl who disappeared twenty ago. As Allie asks questions around town, tensions with the police department arise with suspicions of clues missed at the time of the original disappearance.
This is a different style of whodunnit in that the story is firmly anchored and clues processed in the head of detective Allie. This is a tell-don’t-show style that sinks us into Allie’s daily life and concerns, the reader must unravel the clues from the seemingly ordinary. Of course this is a mystery story so clues, and red herrings, can be anywhere.
Diving into a series mid-way has its benefits and issues. I’m sure I missed lots of references to characters and past stories that would help my reading of Allie’s detecting and understanding of Rushing Creek. From page one a lot of names and relationships are introduced, featured in the previous novels, that I struggled to remember. A character cast at the beginning would help.
Kenney has created a believable small-town world at Rushing Creek where lives, secrets, resentments and loves have been entwined since birth. It reminded me of Charlotte Hinger’s Lottie Albright genealogical mystery series, set in another American small town. When everyone knows everyone else, secrets are not simply embarrassing or shameful. They can be deadly.
An easy, gentle read without a confusing tangle of multiple suspects. I guessed the murderer well before Allie’s big reveal scene, which owed much to the trend of Poirot. I finished it feeling curiously unattached from the people involved, perhaps because Allie dominates the story so thoroughly.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

If you like this, try:-
‘Deadly Descent’ by Charlotte Hinger
‘Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death’ by MC Beaton
‘Murder at Catmmando Mountain’ by Anna Celeste Burke

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A DEADLY DISCOVERY by @JCKenney1 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5lg via @SandraDanby